Who is responsible for medical malpractice issues?

On Behalf of | May 11, 2020 | Firm News |

When you get injured, proving fault is the key way to show that misconduct occurred.

However, the legal blame for your pain does not always fall solely on your doctor or personal care physician.

Hospital owners

One aspect is of medical malpractice is respondeat superior, which refers to the hospital taking ownership of their employees’ mistakes. This can occur when the employee is acting under orders or instructions from the medical staff and was not disobeying any safety rules.

However, this term may not be relevant to all situations. Independent contractors and regular employees have different standards when it comes to liability. The hospital is not legally responsible for the actions of independent contractors under the umbrella of respondeat superior.

Negligent hospital staff

Negligence is one of the most common types of malpractice. In the medical field, that could include making sure to have enough nurses or staff members on hand for a standard of care.

When someone is rushing to finish a task or does not take the time to check certain vital signs, it can be devastating for the patient. Staff members may be at risk for getting sued if they were the direct cause of a person’s suffering.

Unvetted staff

A similar situation may occur if a staff member gets hired without proper background checks. In this case, the hospital is at fault for lack of scrutiny during their hiring process. The hospital is also at risk for a lawsuit if they let an unlicensed employee to operate on a patient, while knowing that the employee was not legally allowed to do so.